Contrary to popular belief, the 1972 Miami Dolphins are not the only professional football team to finish a season with an unblemished record.
There is one other team who has also accomplished the feat; the greatest team in Cleveland Browns history, the 1948 edition.
Pro Football Champions: 1948 Cleveland Browns pic.twitter.com/wZmvzfVXh1
— Mark Wald (@MD_Wald) July 20, 2019
Let’s take a look at the men who made it possible.
Cleveland Browns 1948 Team Roster
AAFC Flashback: Cleveland Browns vs. Los Angeles Dons, September 3, 1948 https://t.co/WP6PqWdIAc pic.twitter.com/ytuIgNCkH9
— SportsPaper (@SportsPaperInfo) September 3, 2017
Quarterbacks
Otto Graham
Cliff Lewis
George Terlep
This group of quarterbacks was led by Otto Graham.
Graham quarterbacked an offense that ranked number 2 in scoring and second in the league in yards.
Otto Graham threw for league-high 2713 yards and 25 touchdowns on his way to sharing the MVP award with San Francisco’s quarterback, Frankie Albert.
#OTD in 1948 Otto Graham leads the powerhouse Cleveland Browns to a 42-13 pummeling of AAFC Buffalo Bills. Rose Bowl star Julie Rykovich rushes for 101 and scores for Bills. Future Hall of Famer Marion Motley rushes for 136 while Mac Speedie catches 10 for 151 yards pic.twitter.com/oqkBfW9WTB
— ThisDateInBuffaloSportsHistory (@BuffSportsHstry) September 12, 2019
Graham completed just 52% of his passes, but keep in mind that the game and the equipment used was different than it is today.
Graham was also a threat with his legs.
He rushed the ball 23 times for 146 yards and punched it into the endzone an additional 6 times.
Those numbers were good enough for a 6.3 yards per carry average, which led the team for guys with over 20 carries.
Cliff Lewis and George Terlep threw a combined 10 passes in relief of Graham, however, Lewis did manage to find the endzone with one of them.
While Cliff Lewis didn’t contribute much on the offensive side of the ball, he was a ball hawk on the defensive side, nabbing 9 interceptions and recording 103 return yards.
Halfbacks
Bill Boedecker
Tommy Colella
Bob Cowan
Tommy James
Dub Jones
Edgar Jones
Ara Parseghian
Sean Sensanbaugher
The most famous name in this group of halfbacks would go on to a Hall of Fame career, but not for his play with the Browns or any professional team for that matter.
That man is, of course, legendary Notre Dame head coach Ara Parseghian.
In 1948, Parseghian was a rookie halfback out of Miami (OH).
He was not the standout member of the group that year but did manage to rush for 135 yards and a touchdown on 32 carries.
The best of the bunch of halfbacks was Edgar Jones, the 28-year-old veteran in his 4th season.
Jones finished the season second on the team with 100 carries and 400 yards.
VINTAGE 1948 AAFC CHAMPIONSHIP FOOTBALL PROGRAM BUFFALO BILLS @ CLEVELAND BROWNS https://t.co/CfzWuLI16J pic.twitter.com/TWJtyRt4cc
— Collectors Unleashed (@CU_World) May 1, 2020
Though not the feature back, that role was reserved for tailback Marion Motley, Jones proved to be a valuable redzone weapon.
He finished tied with Motley for second on the team in rushing touchdowns with 5.
Jones also contributed in the passing game, finishing the season with 293 receiving yards on 14 catches and 5 touchdowns.
Bill Boedecker, Dub Jones, and Ollie Cline contributed a combined total of 532 yards and 4 touchdowns.
Halfback Tom Colella, who contributed just 60 yards on the ground for the season, was the team’s punter, with a yard per punt average of 35.0.
Not bad for a halfback.
Fullbacks
Tony Adamle
Ollie Cline
Marion Motley
Hall of Famer Marion Motley is the name to know from this group of fullbacks.
Motley led the league in rushing with 964 yards on 157 carries.
Motley added 5 touchdowns on the ground.
He was named 1st Team All-Pro at the season’s end.
Motley added 13 catches for 192 yards and two touchdowns.
As you would imagine between Motley and the halfbacks there weren’t too many more carries to go to Ollie Cline and Tony Adamle.
On this day in 1948, the Cleveland Browns completed a 14-0 season by beating the Buffalo Bills, 49-7, in the All-America Football Conference championship game. #OldTimeFootball pic.twitter.com/EOo37631IJ
— Scott Adamson (@adamsonsl) December 19, 2018
However, they were able to scrape together 187 yards and a touchdown.
Not bad for relief work.
Ends
Horace Gillom
Frank Kosikowski
Dante Lavelli
Mac Speedie
John Yonakor
George Young
As good as the other position groups are, it’s possible that the best unit on this team was the ends.
Paced by Dante “Gluefingers” Lavelli and Mac Speedie, both future Hall of Famers, the unit was part of the second most prolific passing offense in the league.
For the second season running, Speedie led the league in receptions and receiving yards with 58 catches for 816 yards.
He added 4 receiving touchdowns and was named First-Team All-Pro.
Lavelli put up prolific numbers as well, catching 25 passes for 463 and 5 touchdowns.
He recorded a team-high 18.5 yards per reception, which informs that he was more of a deep threat than Speedie.
Horace Gillom was the third wide receiver on the team, catching 20 passed for 195 yards and a touchdown.
Guards
Alex Agase
Bob Gaudio
Weldon Humble
Lin Houston
Ed Ulinski
Bill Willis
Bill Willis is the Hall of Fame name from this position group.
Bill Willis of the Cleveland @browns (1948). Source:@Cleveland_PL Sports Research Ctr. pic.twitter.com/uTbJQxRmzs
— John Skrtic (@SkrticX) September 2, 2018
Unfortunately, defensive stats were few and far between back in those days with interceptions being the only recorded numbers.
Despite the lack of statistics, it’s safe to say that Willis was the anchor of the defense that dominated the AAFC.
The team led the league in scoring defense, allowing the fewest points per game in the entire league.
Willis edge came from his speed.
At just 6’2”, he was small even by the professional standards of the 1940s.
However, Willis was fleet of foot and that gave him an insurmountable advantage over bigger, slower offensive lineman.
He was named a second-team All-Pro at season’s end.
Tackles
Chet Adams
Chubby Grigg
Lou Groza
Ben Pucci
Lou Rymkus
Lenny Simonetti
Highlighting the list of guards is Hall of Fame Swiss Army Knife, Lou Groza.
“The Toe” played as both an offensive tackle and as one of the greatest placekickers in NFL history.
In 1948, Groza led the league in field goals and even set the pro football record for the longest ever kick with a 53-yarder against the Brooklyn Dodgers.
Groza’s kicking stats are a window into what football in the 1940s was like.
He led the league with 8 field goals made.
In the 2019 season, 34 field goals made led the league.
He attempted 19, which gave him a field goal percentage of just 42.1% for the season.
Can you imagine those kinds of numbers from a modern kicker?
Extra points were a different story.
As the Browns had the league’s leading scoring offense, he had plenty of chances to boot those through and he did so with incredible accuracy.
Groza made 51 of 52 extra points for a 98.1% success rate on the season.
1948 was also the first year that Groza took over the starting tackle role as well.
Lou Rymkus was named a second-team All-Pro selection at tackle also.
Centers
Frank Gatski
Mel Maceau
Lou Saban
Frank Gatski is the most important name from this list, with the center being the main protector for Otto Graham and the chief lane-opener for Marion Motley.
Gatski would also start at linebacker on defense.
Frank Gatski is one of the winningest players in professional football history, winning 4 AAFC titles and 4 NFL titles.
He would go on to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1985.
Lou Saban is another notable name in this position group.
Saban lined up periodically at center but also his bigger impact came on the defensive side of the ball where he recorded 5 interceptions.
Saban would go on to a long and prolific career as a college and professional coach winning over 150 games with both levels combined.
The Games
The team rolled into the 1948 season fresh off a 12-1-1 season and their second-straight AAFC Championship.
Despite that, Paul Brown had made numerous roster changes to keep the team fresh and hungry.
It worked, as the Browns dominated the league again, this time achieving perfection on their way to a third straight AAFC title.
It didn’t come without drama though.
In their first game, a home opener against the Los Angeles Dons, the Browns fought off a fourth-quarter rally from the Dons to hold on for 1 19-14 victory.
They cruised relatively easily through the middle of their season but faced one final test near the finale.
With perfection in reach, the Browns took their perfect record to San Francisco with a Week 14 matchup against the 49ers.
They had just two games to play and history was within their reach.
59,785 people were on hand to watch as the Browns jumped out to an early 10-0 lead.
However, two touchdowns in the second quarter meant the Browns trailed by 4 at the half.
Oh, to be a fly on the wall of the locker room at halftime, because whatever Paul Brown said worked.
The Browns came out and scored 21 points in the third quarter.
A touchdown in the third for the 49ers meant the score was 31-21 heading into the final quarter.
The 49ers would score a touchdown but fall three points short to give the Browns the win, despite pushing them harder than any other team had in the season.
After an undefeated regular season, the Browns faced off against the Buffalo Bills in the AAFC Championship Game.
On this day in 1948, the Cleveland Browns completed a 14-0 season by beating the Buffalo Bills, 49-7, in the All-America Football Conference championship game. #OldTimeFootball pic.twitter.com/EOo37631IJ
— Scott Adamson (@adamsonsl) December 19, 2018
In truth, it wasn’t much of a contest as the Browns hammered the Bills 49-7.
The Browns had done it; perfection.
The Legacy
It’s difficult to understate just how good, and historic this team was.
On the season, the Browns had the second-highest scoring offense and the highest-scoring defense in the league.
They were a dominant force on both sides of the ball.
On offense, Otto Graham put up MVP numbers and took the award home.
The men around him were the beneficiaries of that success.
Graham threw for a league-high 2713 yards and 25 touchdowns.
816 of those yards went to Mac Speedie, who led the league in receptions for the second year in a row.
Marion Motley led the league in rushing yards with 964.
Overall, the team finished 3rd in rushing offense, 2nd in passing, and 3rd overall in the league.
On the defensive side of the ball, they were even more dominant.
They allowed the fewest yards and points in the league.
In fact, it was in part due to this dominance that led them to move to the National Football League a few years later.
The league collapsed because of low attendance with most of its teams.
The reason fans didn’t show up?
The Browns were too damn good.
While the Hall of Fame recognizes the Browns 1948 season as perfect, the National Football League does not.
It’s because of this you only ever hear of the ’72 Dolphins when teams get close to perfection.
In 2008, Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown (no relation to Paul Brown) wrote a letter to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell urging the NFL to recognize the Browns’ accomplishment.
That letter fell on typically deaf ears.
This remarkable team is criminally underrepresented in discussions of professional football history and is due their rightful place in history.
Often even fans of the Cleveland Browns are unaware of the historic season.
Honorable Mention: The 1964 Cleveland Browns
This team is remembered fondly as the last Cleveland team to win a championship until LeBron led the Cavs to the 2016 NBA Finals title.
The team featured Jim Brown and Leroy Kelly in the same backfield and had a rookie Paul Warfield catching passes.
Blanton Collier was the man in charge and led the team to a 10-3-1 record in the regular season and finished in the NFL East Division.
The only team with a better record on the season was the team they would meet in the NFL Championship Game, the Baltimore Colts.
The Colts were seven-point favorites heading into the game and were led by Johnny Unitas at quarterback.
Despite this, the Browns rolled the Colts 27-0.
They held the vaunted Colts offense to just 200 yards and overwhelmed them with their own potent attack.
It was a stunning upset.
The 1950 Cleveland Browns
This was the Browns first season in the NFL, which was supposed to be a league of higher quality and superior play to the AAFC, where the Browns had just come from.
It would be safe to assume the transition would be difficult for the Browns as the adjusted to the increased abilities of their opponents, right?
Not so much.
The Browns Cruised through their first NFL season to the tune of a 10-2 record.
As it turns out, guys like Otto Graham, Marion Motley and Bill Willis were great football players no matter what league they played in.
Their record left them tied at the end of the regular season with the New York Giants for the American Conference title, but they subsequently beat the Giants in a tiebreaker.
Unlike in previous seasons, the title game did prove to be a worthy challenge.
The Browns required a furious 4th quarter comeback and a Lou Groza field goal in the final seconds in order to beat the Los Angeles Rams, 30-28.
NEXT: The Life And Career Of Browns OT Mike McCormack (Complete Story)